Little Feet

Little Feat have had a bit of a problem justifying their existence since the death of Lowell George in 1979, so this time round they’ve hit on an ingeniously cheeky way of filling the large frontman vacuum he left behind. Yes, they’ve invited a number of celebrities to “join the band”. So Jimmy Buffet, Bella Fleck, Bob Seger, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Inara George and Dave Matthews all take the front microphone for a song (or two in the case of Buffet and Gill). The results aren’t terrible if you like honky-tonk and country blues, and there are some covers of classic songs here like The Band’s ‘The Weight’ (sung by Fleck) and Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Our Land’. It’s probably all hell on earth if you don’t like this genre, because this is essentially a bunch of genial old-timers jamming in an expensive studio and the self-satisfaction dial is up to ten. Jaunty guitars and pianos duel in a friendly manner, while well-fed drums interact with comfortably-off basslines. All in all, it sounds like something they might play in that bar Ally McBeal went to. Despite Little Feat’s hippy roots, this is the soundtrack the baby-boom generation play when they’re squandering our inheritance and poisoning the earth.